Frameworks and Principles

Behind our Moral

Disposition:
-Deontology – Immanuel
Kant
Utilitarianism
 PRE-ASSESSMENT:
Read carefully and answer the following question.

1. What is Deontology?
2. What is Utilitarianism?
 Deontology
a moral theory that evaluates actions that are done
because of duty.
comes from the Greek word deon, which means “being
necessary”.
refers to the study of duty and obligation.
 Main proponent:
•Immanuel Kant (1724- 1804).
• He was a German Enlightenment philosopher
who wrote one of the most important works on
moral philosophy
• Groundwork towards a Metaphysics of Morals
(1785).
 Rationalit
Sentience Rational will
y
 UTILITARIANISM
•Is the idea that the moral worth of an action is
solely determined by its contribution to overall
utility in maximizing happiness or pleasure.
• It is the total utility of individuals which is
important here, the greatest happiness for the
greatest number of people.
 UTILITARIANISM
• Utility- is a measure in economics of the relative
satisfaction from, or desirability of, the
consumption of goods.
• Utilitarianism can thus be described as a
quantitative and reductionist approach to Ethics.
 UTILITARIANISM
• Utilitarianism starts from the basis that pleasure
and happiness are intrinsically valuable.
•That anything else has value only in its causing
happiness or preventing suffering (i.e.
"instrumental", or as means to an end).
• It a type of Hedonism (and it is sometimes known
as Hedonistic Utilitarianism).
 UTILITARIANISM
• Utilitarians support equality by the equal
consideration of interests, and they reject any
arbitrary distinctions as to who is worthy of
concern and who is not, and any discrimination
between individuals.
 UTILITARIANISM
• It is a form of Consequentialism (in that the moral worth
of an action is determined by its outcome or consequence
- the ends justify the means), as opposed to Deontology
(which disregards the consequences of performing an act,
when determining its moral worth), and to Virtue Ethics
(which focuses on character, rather than rules or
consequences).
 History of Utilitarianism

•The origins of Utilitarianism are often traced back to the

Epicureanism of the followers of the Greek philosopher
Epicurus.
•It can be argued that David Hume and Edmund Burke
were proto-Utilitarians.
 History of Utilitarianism
•But as a specific school of thought, it is generally credited to the
English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.
•Bentham found pain and pleasure to be the only intrinsic values in the
world, and this he derived the rule of utility: that the good is whatever
brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people.
Bentham himself, however, attributed the origins of the theory to
Joseph Priestley (1733 - 1804), the English scientist, theologian and
founder of Unitarianism in England.